182 



CHEMISTKY. 



CHILI. 



the therapeutic properties of the waters. The 

 concentration will secure great economy in 

 transportation ; and the ice meanwhile obtain- 

 ed has of course its value. Messrs. Tichon and 

 Melsens, of Aix les Bains, Savoy, have recently 

 put in a reclamation on the score of this pro- 

 cess, claiming to have applied it since 1856 for 

 the improvement of the taste of disagreeable 

 sulphurous waters, and also to concentrate their 

 mineral ingredients. The former asserts that 

 the method will not suit all mineral waters, 

 since it alters organic matters if these are held 

 in solution in them. 



Manufacture of Ice. The objects to be se- 

 cured in the processes just treated of, are much 

 facilitated by the new method of M. Carre for 

 the manufacture of ice, and of course, for the 

 freezing of waters for any required purposes. 

 This method, which attracted much attention 

 in the Exhibition of 1862, and of which a full 

 description is to be found in L'Annee Scienti- 

 fique et Industrielle, by Figuier (1863), is one 

 which M. Carr6 has based essentially upon an 

 apparatus of American invention, that of Prof. 

 A. C. Twining. The latter had produced ice in 

 a brief time by the cold consequent on volatil- 

 ization of sulphuric ether ; but a difficulty ex- 

 isted hi the way of maintaining the requisite 

 vaciram : M. Carr6 now substitutes ammonia, 

 previously liquefied by condensation ; the frigo- 

 rific effect being due to the large amount of 

 heat which becomes latent in this material 

 when allowed again to assume the gaseous 

 form. The new apparatus, which can be work- 

 ed either intermittently or constantly, is being 

 introduced into many branches of industry. 

 Besides its application for purifying water, and 

 for concentrating mineral waters, as above re- 

 ferred to, it is also employed by brewers for 

 freezing the wort of beer destined to undergo 

 fermentation ; by restaurant keepers for pre- 

 paring ices and sherbets ; and by vine growers 

 to concentrate wines. 



Alcohol, Manufacture of, from, Oleflant Gas. 

 ^ See this subject under the preceding divis- 

 ion of OBOANIO COMPOUNDS. 



A New Safety Paper. Mention is made in 

 "Macniven and Cameron's Paper-trade Ke- 

 view," of a new safety paper, designed to pre- 

 vent forgery or alteration of shares, bank-notes, 

 checks, bills, or any paper demanding such se- 

 curity. The sheet of this paper is formed of 

 several layers of pulp superposed, and which 

 can be of different colors or nature, according 

 to requirement. It is only necessary that the 

 middle layer of the paper be colored of a deli- 

 ble or destructible color, when, if acids or other 

 chemicals are employed to obliterate the writ- 

 ing or print on its surface, they will also destroy 

 this color ; and the hue wanting at such spot can- 

 not be restored save by means that will destroy 

 the whiteness of the surface of the paper. Thus 

 this plan is likely to serve as an excellent check 

 to the fraudulent alteration of documents. 



Protection of Skins and Fur* from, Vermin. 

 Dry skins, as those of stuffed birds and ani- 



mals, as well as furs, &c., are known, to be sub- 

 ject to the attack of insects, by which they 

 may soon be destroyed. To prevent such in- 

 jury, P. "W. Payras, of Paris, has taken out a 

 patent for treating such articles with a mixed 

 solution of the sulphate and the chloride of 

 zinc, of a strength corresponding to 15 Beau- 

 m6, with the addition of ten grains of arsenic 

 to each quart of the liquid. The preparation 

 having been applied with a brush or sponge to 

 the fleshy side of the skin, the latter is then 

 hung up and dried. Where greater expedition 

 is desired, the whole skin may be dipped in the 

 solution, and then dried. The liquid should 

 be kept in a glass or porcelain vessel. In mod- 

 erately cold climates, the addition of arsenic 

 may be dispensed with. 



Gold and Rubier Plates for Artificial Teeth. 

 Mr. M. Cartwright, of London, has patented 

 plates for artificial teeth, composed of gold and 

 india-rubber intimately blended. The rubber 

 having been first dissolved in benzine, leaf gold 

 is then ground with it until an intimate mix- 

 ture, and which is plastic, is formed. This 

 compound is further softened by heating, until 

 it can be worked into the model of the plate 

 required ; afterward it is vulcanized by heat in 

 a suitable oven. 



CHILI, a republic in South America. The 

 population amounted on December 31st, 1861, 

 to 1,648,804 inhabitants, of whom 822,727 

 were men, and 826,167 women. The annual 

 increase is about 20,000. In 1861, 10,604 mar- 

 riages were celebrated, being at the rate of one 

 for every 153 inhabitants. The Chilian army 

 numbered 2,028 men, and the national guard 

 26,839. The custom house receipts of Valpar- 

 aiso, in December, 1862, presented an excess 

 of 30,000 piasters over those of December, 

 1861, and the general receipts for 1862 an ex- 

 cess of 240,000 piasters over the receipts of 

 1861. The budget of expenditures for 1863. 

 was fixed at 6,529,000 piasters. 



The political history of Chili presents no 

 events of marked importance. In the Presi- 

 dent's message on the opening of Congress, in 

 June, reforms were as usual noticed and great 

 promises made. 



The Chilian Government claimed the owner- 

 ship of the guano lately discovered on the coast 

 in Mej ill ones, in conformity with a law of 1842, 

 which declared all discoveries to be "public 

 property," but subsequently stated its willing- 

 ness to grant licenses to load vessels as for- 

 merly, when applied for according to custom 

 house regulations, and thus in a great measure 

 satisfied the public. 



At the beginning of the year, Chili had n 

 serious diplomatic difficulty with England., The 

 British representative claimed 60,000 for 

 damages for the loss of an arm sustained by a 

 young man, Whitehead, who had most impru- 

 dently and unjustifiably exposed himself by his 

 interference with a sen try in the streets during 

 the late revolution. The enforcement of this 

 claim by order of the British Government, ex- 



